“faux” diversity – when people are attracted to a diverse neighborhood but pick and choose the diversity they associate with, resulting in a divided community

Our changing cities – becoming more sustainable, with more amenities and health infrastructure, with tension around displacement

The work itself and what’s considered “scholarly” in academia. I didn’t anticipate this conversation at all.

Films and scholarship

Is a film, in this case peer reviewed (and Winner, “People’s Choice” Award, 13th Annual Association for Consumer Research (ACR) Film Festival) that generates portable knowledge and connects leaders and future leaders considered scholarly? Vanessa and Sonya mentioned that this would be a risky endeavor for a junior faculty, not tenured as they are.

I’m not surprised, but I am surprised in 2015 that this is still the case in academia. I thought things would have changed by now.

When I left academia (or should I say, I never joined it), I was producing “work” in my Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program that included news stories and action to improve health on the campus we were learning on. I was allowed to present it at our annual meeting, but it was clearly different than everyone else’s project.

I hope someday any body of work, no matter what the medium, is recognized for its value in (a) igniting the passion of its creator and (b) changing the thinking of the people who experience it with the result being a better society (as judged by the people in that society). As Vanessa mentioned, a recent screening to a group of economists probably generated more conversation than ever would have via a manuscript placed on their desks in front of them.

It reminds me of a concept that goes unrecognized when people learn that social networks are about having a lot of followers (they aren’t). That type of learning encourages people to think of these networks as one-way mass communication mediums, which disappoints. Instead, they are about meaningful connections with people who you might not say hello to while walking through the boulevards and picturesque circles of your communities.

My HHSIgnite teammate/lead Sabrina Matoff-Stepp, PhD (@SabrinaMatoffSt) asked me a question I haven’t heard in a long time which was about why I spend time doing these kinds of “things.” My response is that they save me time by discovering things sooner that I don’t know, and if someone knows how to do something better, I want to know about it (“Proudly discovered elsewhere”).

My suggestion, then, is post away, and then listen and engage afterward. You never know what you’ll learn. 1 to 2 great connections every 6 months is the goal of gaining followers and friendships, in social media and in life.

Our cities are changing

Today’s Photo Friday is about changing Washington, DC, which I’ve been reading and experiencing. Destroyed by riots in 1968, destroyed again by drugs that consumed people and communities, now just becoming a walkable, sustainable place, in some places.

Thanks for the great networking experience and more knowledge that will help us create a place where everyone has what they need to be successful.